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MODIS
Spacecraft Helps Firefighters Plan Strategy
This
visible light/infrared composite image from the Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) shows the fires that continue
to burn in Idaho and Montana even after a few days of cool
temperatures and light rain. Burned areas shows up as black
areas underneath the purple smoke. Fires seen by MODIS' thermal
infrared detectors appear as red dots. MODIS acquired the
image on Wednesday morning, August 30, 2000. Images
such as these are relayed on a daily basis to the U.S. Forest
Service to enable firefighters to plan their daily strategy
in battling the blazes. This helps to conserve valuable
resource and direct fire crews to the most vulnerable areas.
Image
courtesy: Nazmi Saleous, MODIS Science Team
Smoke
in the Bitterroot Mountains
Click
on picture to enlarge.
By
late August 2000, severe forest fires had been burning in
Montana and Idaho for more than a month. As of Aug. 29, a
total of 57 fires were burning in both states. The smoke from
these fires is considered a health risk, especially for the
very young and very old, and health advisory has been issued
for those with respiratory problems who live in the area.
This
image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS)
shows smoke in the Bitterroot Mountains on the morning of
August 21, 2000. Even though forest fires normally taper off
overnight, these blazes are burning so fiercely that opaque
pillars of smoke are rising into the morning air. More smoke
fills the low-lying valleys, with the mountains rising out
of the smoke into clear air.
Image
by Reto Stockli and the MODIS science team.
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